Free Software, Free Society

2nd International conference on Freedom in Computing, Development and Culture. 9-11, December 2008 at Mascot Convention Center, Thiruvananthapuram

The Free Software Movement, started about a quarter of a century back, pioneered the various movements for freedom in the digital world – for instance, free knowledge represented by Wikipedia or freedom of creative works from copyright restrictions represented by Creative Commons. We also see a new form of social production where collaboration becomes more important than competition, where people from different parts of the world co-operate to create digital products including documents, music or software. These movements, in their own way, are helping to bring about a reduction in the Digital Divide and increasing access to useful works of knowledge. It is perhaps time to define the contours of this new space and situate interventions therein. Located at the intersection of Free Software, Development and Society, the FSFS Conference will examine the application of the Free Software model for freeing intellectual artefacts from the clutches of restrictive laws (like the Copyright Act), and making them available for human development. The conference will also address, inter alia, issues such as technology access and the digital divide, legal issues, and experiences of using the Free Software model in fields such as music, and literature.